Telecommunication companies and ISPs consistently rank dead last in customer satisfaction across many US-based indexes and surveys – behind airlines, the postal service, and even health insurance providers. Despite the rest of the industry, Astound Broadband, has rated #1 for overall customer satisfaction in the category and ranked at the top the list of ISP providers over 6 years in a row. When Astound decided to unify their regional sub-brand websites (RCN, Grande, and Wave Broadband) under one cohesive design system, they looked to Bounteous to make it happen.

UI Design

After completing discovery exercises including visual guardrails with our partners at Astound, goals for the visual direction were identified as: be compelling, be seen as tech-forward, and be visually striking. The final look and feel for the design system meets these goals by having a high-contrast look that alternates between dark and light areas, has a fresh layout that breaks the grid in interesting ways that compels the user down the page, and uses candid photography that allows the user to really see themselves using Astound’s services.

Highly Accessible Design System

Since accessibility and maintaining the legacy brand’s colors were duel primary priorities for Astound, we began the design process by establishing a comprehensive design system and pattern library. For this project, we abided by WCAG 2.1 accessibility standards and did extensive research and testing to ensure all aspects of the design system would be an excellent experience for all users. From color contrast ratios, to ARIA tags, accessibility and usability best practices were considered and implemented throughout the entire design system. Below are a small sample of pages from the final design system.